Lose Hill and Kinder Scout

Saturday 8th August 2009

While we are all stuck in lockdown it has not possible for me to do any new walks, but my old walks have been a comfort to me during the last twelve months as I read the old entries in this blog and look through all the photos I have taken during my walks. When looking through my old pictures I noticed some from a walk that I did in the Peak District in 2009 that had not been described before. If the walk had been done now, it would be surprising that a walk such as this was never put onto this blog, but back then there was a reason for leaving out this walk. In 2009 I had started to describe my earliest mountain walks, beginning in the Black Mountains from 1999, and I knew that I had a lot of walks to write about which would fill the winter months when I had no new walks to describe for many years to come. Therefore, I made a decision that I wouldn’t bother writing about day walks in the Peak District and this walk was dropped, however I had an ulterior motive for this walk. My camera had stopped working and had wiped all of the pictures that I had taken during the first half of the day, but now, with all my walks from before I started this blog described and nothing else to write about, I am going to attempt to describe a walk that I have no record of and with photos that don’t start until lunchtime. This should be interesting!

I have a vague memory of going up Lose Hill at the start of this walk, but I am not sure how I got there or even where I started. The last picture taken is from the slopes of Win Hill looking towards Lose Hill on the other side of the valley, so it is reasonable to say that I started the walk from the valley between Lose and Win Hills, and probably from the village of Hope. A clear path heads towards Lose Hill from the village of Hope passing through several grassy fields before heading up steeper, rougher ground to the top of the hill. I most recently climbed this hill last year and it is always deservedly popular as it lies at the eastern end of the Great Ridge that is the dividing line between the limestone of the White Peak to the south and the gritstone of the Dark Peak to the north. A great walk heads along the ridge and at some point I came off it, but I have no idea where, perhaps at Hollins Cross pass, though I think it is more likely that after passing over Mam Tor I headed down Harden Clough. I certainly crossed the Vale of Edale, and then I think I climbed Crowden Clough as I remember doing that, but my pictures don’t agree. The first photo that I have from this walk, timed at 12.23, is from a wide grassy ridge looking towards the gritstone outcrops of the southern edge of Kinder Scout.

It looks like it was taken from Grindslow Knoll, which suggests I climbed that way, but I am so convinced I climbed Crowden Clough I bet I followed the Pennine Way until it starts to descend towards Upper Booth and took a path along the edge of the rising ground into Crowden Clough where I followed the brook up to the southern edge of Kinder Scout. I remember enjoying this ascent and wishing that I had taken this route before as it was really good, however I have not taken it again since. From there I turned east branching off the main footpath and took my first picture that has survived after the previous pictures had been wiped before heading across to Grindslow Knoll. There I think I had my lunch before heading back to the main footpath following the edge above Grindsbrook Clough. This is fabulous terrain with great views down the valley and across Edale with Lose Hill far in the distance showing how far I had already walked. Keeping to the southern edge of Kinder Scout I passed the top of Golden Clough and Ollerbrook Clough before heading onto Crookstone Out Moor at the eastern end of Kinder Scout.

Many of the (surviving) pictures from this walk are overexposed indicating that the weather was hazy with poor light that was not helped by the best of the views being behind me into the westerly sun. As I came down over Crookstone Hill the distinctive peak of Win Hill was before me and drew me on all the way along the ridge and up to the top. The last picture taken on this walk looks across the valley to where it had started, Lose Hill, and beyond it to the Great Ridge on one side and the Kinder Scout plateau in the distance on the other side. Edale was the scene for many of my earliest walks going back to when I was at University in nearby Sheffield, so I have a lot of affection for the area. This looks like it was a good walk and I have fond memories of the ascent in Crowden Clough, but for some reason it was never posted on this blog, until now.